Tuesday, February 3, 2015

INTERVIEW: DP Denman plus #giveaway! #mmromance

So pleased to have you back DP <3 Thank you so much
for subjecting yourself to the RANDOMNESS that is a Raine O'Tierney interview
(AGAIN!)! Please don your best hat, and let's get started!

It’s great to be back, Raine! I’m a big fan of
randomness. It keeps the world interesting.

On a scale 1 (super chill) to 10 (falling apart at the
seams) how cool are you when it comes to reviews?!

I’m a 1 most of the time...because I don’t read them.
*laughs* I would love people to gush over every book but that’s not going to
happen. It’s the nature of the business. Some people will love our work. Some
will hate it with an irrational passion. Those are the rules. If the reviewers
are being honest, I see no reason to slap them for telling people how they feel.

The reviews aren’t really for authors, anyway. When I
review a book, I’m not writing comments to the author. I’m writing comments to
other readers to tell them how I feel, one bookworm to another. From that
perspective, as the author it makes reviews none of my business. Since we all
know a bad review doesn’t necessarily equate to lower sales, I don’t see a
reason to make reading them a priority.

We know what you’d say to your past self from your
previous interview—what are your wishes for your future self?

I think I want what most authors want: to earn a spot on
the NYT best sellers list. It’s definitely a long-term goal that will take a
lot of effort, but that’s my vision. I want to be a recognizable name in the
business and through my characters, dispel a few stereotypes about gay men
along the way.

So, you were editing along and zombies attack. And they
are on fire! What do you do?

My initial reaction would be to put the fire out so it
doesn’t spread. I have a mug of coffee on my desk but...hello...it’s coffee.
Like I’m going to waste it on a zombie. Please! A fire extinguisher and a
shotgun would be my next choice...or maybe the other way around. I know you’re
supposed to behead them but I’m no good with swords.

What one food item do you consider to be your arch
nemesis?

Buffalo wings! I’ve alternated between vegetarian and
vegan for over a decade but I still crave those things. Do you remember that
commercial jingle “what would you do for a Klondike bar”? Not much, but for a
pile of chicken wings and 20 minutes with PETA looking the other way, I’d do a
lot!

Favorite literary quote.

There are more
things in heaven and earth, Horatio,

Than are dreamt of
in your philosophy.

It’s a fantastic and flowery way to say: “buddy, what you
don’t know could fill a warehouse.” I love Shakespeare’s sense of humor. I
don’t know how big a crack up he was in person, but his plays are hysterical.
Even in his more dramatic works, he manages to inject a chuckle.

You have 200 (MORE!)
words—Make. Me. Swoon. (PLEASE!)

Here, have 500!

Justin nodded along annoyed by the reasonable advice and the
situation. He didn’t like admitting it, but they were right. There was no
reason to rush. He had just imagined coming home from the trip, unpacking his
suitcase, falling to one knee, and having Liam in his arms laughing and crying
and accepting his proposal. Meeting the family was supposed to tip the balance
in his favor. As tempting as it was to blame the ill-timed conversation for
Liam’s continued refusal, it wasn’t his parents’ fault.

Liam had a way of clinging. Waiting for him to change his
mind was tradition in their relationship. He didn’t jump into things, not even
the easy ones. Every new opportunity represented a threat. He thought the step
from living together to marriage would be easy, but apparently, it took the
same patience and careful persistence as everything else.

He ended the video chat seconds before Liam walked through
the front door.

“I’m home.”

“In here,” he called back.

He heard the dull thump of sock-covered feet on the floor
before Liam appeared sweaty and wearing a timid smile.

“Hi.”

“How was the workout?” He tried to shrug off the annoyance
still thrumming across his forehead, threatening to burst into a headache.

“Good.” Liam stepped further into the room.

The tension between them rippled across his stomach. He
didn’t want things to feel strained just because they couldn’t agree on how it
would look when they celebrated their twentieth anniversary. They both wanted one.
It was a good start.

“Come here.” He held out his hand and pulled Liam into his
lap. “I’m sorry for pushing this marriage thing so hard.” He wrapped arms
around him. “I want it, but not enough to tear us apart trying to get it.”

“It’s my fault, too. I’m being a pain in the ass.”

He twitched a smile. “Stubborn is nothing new for you.”

“It’s not because I don’t want to be with you.”

“I know that.” He kissed Liam’s shoulder. “If I thought you
planned to leave this would be a totally different conversation.” He looked up
into Liam’s face, studying what he had already memorized. “I want to be with
you for the rest of my life. You want to be with me for the rest of yours.
That’s enough for now.”

“For now?” Liam cocked a challenging eyebrow.

“I’m not giving up on this.”

“I figured.”

“One day you’ll understand what I’m talking about and we’ll
have a honeymoon so hot we’ll melt the sheets.”

Liam smiled. “If this is a ploy for hotter sex we can skip
the ceremony and find some new tricks online. There must be a blog somewhere
with decent ideas.”

“I’m sure there are several.”

Liam didn’t need any help being hot in bed. He had a great
imagination, little inhibition, and thousands of hours of experience in porn.
The only way things between them could get any hotter would be the first night
he made love to his new husband, gold bands gleaming in the sunlight, and knew
Liam was his.

What makes you inexplicably happy?

Hockey! I love that game. It’s hard to be grumpy when
watching a four-year-old scoot across the ice on tiny skates with a helmet that
makes him look like a pumpkin and a jersey down to his knees. Even the older
kids in the minor leagues are fun. I had a figure skating habit for years and I
think I’m still addicted to the ice. The smell. The sounds of blades on the
surface. The graceful glide of a brute in a jersey. It’s my happy place.

Sing us a song!

Oh, I'm a dark diamond

But you're something else

You read me more than I read myself

The one star I could count on

Only comet I could trust

You burnt through my life to the true meaning of love

chorus:

Tell me how does it work?

How do you make things fit?

Spent all my life trying to get it right

I've put it together and it falls apart

I thought to myself I might understand

But when the wall's built, and the heart hardens

You get a dark diamond, dark diamond

Elton John/Bernie Taupin - Dark Diamond

It loses something without the music, but that song’s
going to inspire a new story one day. The plot is still percolating. Stay
tuned!

What are your thoughts on libraries?

I love libraries! Libraries are what keep reading and
literacy from being dependent on income. Too many people can’t afford to buy
books. They can barely afford to pay the rent. It would be a shame if they
couldn’t enjoy reading simply because they couldn’t afford it. In fact, my
local library finally convinced me to cut back on my ebooks so I can donate the
dead tree version after I read them. You can donate ebooks after you read them,
but not everyone can afford a smartphone or ereader.

And finally, you’ve just inherited a dachshund farm…now
what?

Set up a puppy-petting venture, of course! Who wouldn’t
want to come and pet a farm full of dachshunds? I know a few people who are
terrified of dogs because they were frightened by one when they were kids.
That’s sad because dogs are great. Nobody should be afraid of dogs. So, I would
train a few as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder animals and let young school kids
come and pet the rest so they can see that not all dogs are scary. Some are
wiggly and floppy and look adorable in Seahawks sweaters.

Blurb: Liam is not a family man. He’s learned to avoid the entanglement and its mire of expectations; expectations he’s destined to crush. Unfortunately, his usually placid boyfriend is pushing him into the arms of his new family and he’s fighting every step. When a person he never expected to see again reappears, Liam finds a reason to make a few concessions for the sake of real love and the only man he is willing to call family.

*What inspired you to write Bare Threads?It’s book four in the Saving Liam series so I had to write it! You can’t just
leave a series dangling. That’s mean...and in some places indecent. *laughs*

*Is there anything special you’d like us to know about your book?Bare Threads is the conclusion of the Liam/Justin story, but I have a spin-off
trilogy in the works so it’s not really the end of the series. As always, 25%
of the royalties will go to Trevor Project for the life of the book.

*What are your hopes for this title?I hope it gives readers the HEA they’ve waited for. People have stuck with me
through a story that was a bit dark and hard to stomach in places. I don’t want
them disappointed by the ending.

About the Author: Award winning author DP Denman writes character-driven
contemporary romance about gay men. Her stories are real and intense, but
resolve in endings that make people want to read the book all over again. She
is from the Pacific Northwest and bases all of her stories in Vancouver,
British Columbia.

In her spare time, she is a dedicated LGBTQIA rights
activist, fighting for those who have been marginalized and abused. To that
end, 25% of the royalties from every book go to support LGBT charities.

3 comments:

I'm kind of embarrassed to say that this is the first I've ever heard of this author. Nut then, that's why I like to read blogs like this - they give me a place where I can learn about new writers (new to me, at any rate) and get a sense of their work beyond the sample to be found wherever we can buy ebooks. Thanks for the interview and for the giveaway. Keep giving us conversations like this, please. By going beyond the blurb or the excerpt, you give me a sense of the author's voice, and that can be a deciding factor in choosing which books to try.

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Meet the Hostess!

Raine O'Tierney is an M/M romance author who loves celebrating other authors, asking probing questions about dachshunds, and generally supporting the creative process! Plus she thinks hats are worth throwing a party over!